Improvement in pipe-tongs



L. Y. GOWL.

Pipe-Tongs.

.No. 211,707. Patented Jan. 28,1879.

PETERS. PHDTO-LITHOGRAP WASHlNGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LYNDON Y. COWL, OF BROOKLYN, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ADELIA J.

OOWL, O13 SAME PLACE.

IM PROVEMENT IN Pl PE-TONGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 211,707, dated J annary 28, 1879; application filed August 22, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LYNDON Y. UowL, of

' Brooklyn,in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an lmprovement in Pipe-Tongs, of which the following is a specification:

Pipe-ton gs have been made with a chiselshaped jaw and a hook-ended j aw, pivoted together, and the pivot-pin has passed through a slot in the lever-handles, and a screw has been employed to receive the thrust upon the pivot-pinendwise of the slot.

My present invention is for adjusting the jaws relatively to each other, so as to be adapted to pipes of different sizes, and at the same time dispensing with the screw heretofore employed in setting thepivot-pin.

I make use of a sliding wedge and clamp, in combination with a backing-piece and the pivot-pin of the pipe-tongs, whereby the jaw can be moved upon the pivot-pin and held firmly in whatever position it may be adjusted to, and said wedge receives the thrust in grasping the pipe, and it is not liable to injury or to wear and looseness, like the screws heretofore employed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the pipe-tongs, and Fig. 2 is a section at the line a; w.

The chisel-jaw a, hooked jaw b, and leverhandlesc and cl are of any usual or desired character or size, and the lever c is slotted at c for the pivot-bolt f, as usual. This pivot-bolt f is of ordinary construction, except that the head Y 2 is made with one edge diagonal.

It is preferable to employ a square shank to that part of the bolt f which is within the slot 0 of handle 0, and a round portion where the bolt passes through the lever-handle d.

The wedge h is slotted longitudinally. It lies upon the lever c,- and there is a backingpiece, 70, upon such lever 0, between which and the head 2 of the pivot-bolt the inclined portion of the wedge passes, so that by moving the wedge h the jaw b will be moved nearer to or farther from the jaw a, the pivot-bolt sliding in the slot 0, and when the pipe is grasped by the jaws of the tongs the strain is taken upon the edges of the wedge between the backing-piece k and pivot-bolt, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The wedge h is slotted lengthwise, so as to be clamped to place on the lever c after it has been adjusted, and for this purpose the screw 0 and thumb-nut i are employed.

The contact edges of 71. and 2 may be rough ened, so as to prevent the parts slipping.

This pipe-tongs is very compact and durable, and adapted to the most severe strains without injury to the adjusting devices.

- I claim as my invention- The wedge h upon the lever-handle 0, adapted to being adjusted endwise and clamped, in combination with the backing-piece 7c, pivotbolt f, jaws a and I), and lever-handles c and d, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 15th day of August, A.

L. Y. OOWL. Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINOKNEY, WILLIAM G. MOTT. 

